The Scottish Government today announced further measures to help small businesses after petitions from Edinburgh pub and coffee shop owners highlighted what they called an ‘unfair disparity’ between grants for Scottish businesses and those for their English counterparts.
Yesterday (Tuesday April 14) Edinburgh Live reported on a couple who owned four pubs, James and Jacquelin Nisbet – they were only entitled to one £25,000 grant because their four pubs were owned by one company, whereas in England the couple said they’d be entitled to four times as much, because the grants are paid out per property rather than per business.
At the time Finance Secretary Kate Forbes told Edinburgh Live that Westminster was to blame, saying: “the funding allocated by the UK Government is based on population share, rather than recognising what is required in Scotland, particularly given the larger number of small businesses in Scotland, and that is why we need more resources to be able to provide additional support”.
The government seems to have changed tack today (15 April) with an announcement that businesses with multiple properties will be entitled to a grant payment for each property.
In a statement today, the Scottish Government said around £220 million of further grants are being made available for businesses - including the recently self-employed - to help them deal with the ongoing impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
The new package of measures includes £120 million to extend the Small Business Grant scheme to ensure that, in addition to a 100% grant on the first property, small business rate payers will be eligible to a 75% grant on all subsequent properties.
A further £100 million fund is also being made available to protect self-employed people and viable micro and SME businesses in distress due to COVID. This fund will be channelled through local authorities and enterprise agencies to target newly self-employed people and businesses who are ineligible for other Scottish Government or UK Government schemes.
Applications for the £100 million fund will be open by the end of the month, and the new arrangements for the Small Business Grant will be in place to receive applications on 5 May.
Finance Secretary Kate Forbes said: “The Scottish Government’s primary concern remains protecting people’s health, but it is still the case that the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak is having severe economic consequences for businesses around the country."
“We are doing everything we can to support business at this difficult time and we continue to listen to and engage with the sector.
“Our support for business now exceeds the £2.2 billion passed on from the UK Government and actively works to fill the gaps in the UK schemes.
“Around 100,000 businesses in total are already eligible for our small business grants and from today we will be extending that scheme in response to feedback from businesses on the frontline of this economic crisis.
“The creation of a £100 million fund is to help those micro and SME businesses who face immediate cash flow challenges, are ineligible for other schemes and are the productive base for supporting employment in the future.
"It will also support those newly self-employed people who are also ineligible for UK schemes and will be a vital lifeline for many businesses and individuals across Scotland.
“With UK Government support not being available until June, we are going further to secure the future economic viability of Scottish firms and applications will be open by the end of the month."
“While many businesses are in difficulty, some are doing better than others or can pull through from their own resources.
“Just as we ask the public only to buy what they need in the supermarkets, we are asking businesses who do not need this vital help to refrain from claiming additional support unless absolutely necessary so we can direct as much help as possible to those who need it most.”
